The Unorthodox Tomb Raider

Midway through the replacement, everyone could smell something unusual coming from the gap.

"That feeling just now seemed to come from that thing. It seems we're not far from it."

Gu Tingfang glanced at the remaining elite family members and gritted his teeth, saying, "We have to catch up; we can't let them gain the upper hand!"

As he spoke, Gu Tingfang suddenly pulled out an umbrella from somewhere. When he opened the umbrella, the stones and hidden weapons that hit it made a clanging metallic sound.

"Quickly, everyone follow behind me. This treasure has limited power; once it's used up, it won't be able to hold back anymore."

Gu Tingfang hurriedly called out, and then the several agile men dressed in black tucked in their limbs and followed closely behind Gu Tingfang. Relying on the umbrella for cover, Gu Tingfang actually made his way straight into the mechanism room.

There are no other routes at the moment. If there is any other way to go, it should be inside that mechanism room.

Group: 2

The other humans, led by Gu Tingfang, were at the forefront. They made up their minds and, without thinking too much, took out their best weapons to defend themselves.

Many of these magical artifacts are defective and require a long time to be restored after each use, so these people only brought them out out of necessity.

Of course, there were also those who were reluctant to use them or who simply didn't have them, so they drove their ordinary subordinates to the front as cannon fodder. As a result, the entire path was immediately thrown into chaos, with corpses and blood covering the ground.

"Brother Fang, should we keep going?"

Seeing that many people were going in one after another, Ono turned to look at Fang Yun. If he went in any later, he might miss the opportunity to get in first.

"It's alright. They'll destroy the mechanism once they go in. We can just wait for it to be destroyed and then slowly walk in."

Fang Yun naturally knew that there would be even more dangerous traps ahead. Since they were in such a hurry, he let them go ahead to explore, while he could follow behind and observe.

As expected, when Fang Yun and his group arrived at the chamber, it was splattered with blood, and there were even more corpses than before. Moreover, many of them were quite skilled.

Behind the control room was a narrow door, seemingly made of brass. Beneath this door was a tunnel. When Ono went over to try and open the tunnel gate, he discovered that the gate was locked from the inside.

“Brother Fang, it seems they blocked the inside after they went in, so we can’t get in at all.”

Upon hearing this, Fang Yun walked over and knocked on the tunnel gate. He found that the sound coming from inside was very muffled, which meant that those people had not only blocked the gate, but had also likely blown up the stone wall there. So even if he could open the gate now, the entire passage would probably be filled with stones, and no one could get in.

In that case, Fang Yun would have to find another way.

"Brother Fang, what should we do now?"

Huang Ying also noticed the current situation and asked Fang Yun curiously.

Fang Yun surveyed the surroundings again, stroking his chin, and said, "This mechanism room is so large, why would it only have such a small entrance?"

· ·········Request flowers· ···

Then, Fang Yun walked out of the stone chamber and waved to the two of them, saying, "Come out, both of you. Come with me and let's walk back and take a look."

After Ono and his companion came out, they looked at Fang Yun with confusion and asked, "Brother Fang, are we going back?"

"No, according to my estimation, the trap we just encountered clearly only covered this area. If we go back, we can verify my guess."

........ . .......

"If there are other such chambers, it means there are other entrances."

Ono clapped his hands and said, "Brother Fang is right, but we haven't found any signs of other secret chambers along the way, otherwise all these people wouldn't have gathered here."

Fang Yun said, "It's possible that the other mechanisms are more well hidden, so no one noticed them. I was so focused on getting there that I overlooked this. Let's head back now and see if we find anything."

Sure enough, when Fang Yun went back to look, he immediately discovered that some places no longer had the same kind of traps as before.

Or rather, the layout of the institutions here is completely different from that there.

This tomb is so vast that the people who built it must have left different passageways; otherwise, it would have been impossible to construct. Therefore, there must be similar entrances in other places as well.

"Wow, look here! The ground here is noticeably softer than other places."

At this moment, Huang Ying suddenly cried out, as if she had discovered something.

Chapter 493 Taking a Different Approach

Upon hearing Huang Ying speak, Fang Yun walked over and stepped on the patch of muddy ground that Huang Ying pointed to. Sure enough, the soil there was much softer.

"The environment here is all the same, and there are no leaks or underground water channels, so why does the mud here seem to be wet as if it has been soaked in water?"

Fang Yun was certain there was something fishy about it. After stepping on it a few more times, Fang Yun could clearly feel that the structure inside was definitely not filled with soil, and it felt somewhat hollow.

Did you bring a shovel?

Upon hearing this, Ono reached into his cloth bag and rummaged around inside. He pulled out a retractable Luoyang shovel, which he had obtained from the thugs earlier.

After handing the shovel to Fang Yun, Huang Ying couldn't help but say from the side, "Hey, are you still a hunter? Why did you even bring a shovel?"

Ono scratched his head and said with a smile, "I saw that this shovel was so new, and I thought there might be some roads that couldn't be dug through that I would have to dig. I didn't expect it to come in handy."

Fang Yun said, "It seems that you, Ono, are really a deputy general. If it weren't for the airship you brought, we'd probably still be figuring out how to cross the river."

After saying that, all three of them laughed.

Then, Fang Yun took the shovel and began digging in the soil. Soon after, the shovel hit a metal object and made a clinking sound.

"Look, we've found it."

Fang Yun continued digging with all his might, and then a metal box gradually emerged. Because of its age, the outside of the box was covered in rust.

When Fang Yun pulled open the metal box, a tooth-grinding sound rang out, clearly because the rust and dirt had long made the mechanism very rough.

"Look, what is this!" Huang Ying looked at the chains and tentacles inside and was even more curious. It was the first time she had ever seen such an ingenious mechanism.

Normally, when the family goes hunting, setting a trap is considered quite good. At most, they might dig a snare. Huang Ying felt that she couldn't possibly make something as intricate and complex as this, even if she racked her brains.

"Come a little closer, I'm going to open this mechanism and take a look."

As he spoke, Fang Yun pulled down all the levers inside one by one. Sure enough, there was another series of spring sounds not far away, and countless hidden weapons and other pits appeared.

Fortunately, Fang Yun and his group were standing directly at the control point of the mechanism, so they were not harmed.

"Alright, I think I know where the tunnel is. Follow me."

Then, Fang Yun walked in one direction, and Huang Ying and the other two, for some reason, simply followed Fang Yun in that direction.

As Huang Ying approached a wall, she was about to ask a question when she saw Fang Yun tap the stone wall next to him, causing many small stones to fall from it.

Then, Fang Yun knocked around again with his hand, finally pinpointing a location. He then pulled hard, and surprisingly, a loud creaking sound was heard as an iron door was opened in front of them.

Inside, there is a staircase leading downwards.

"What...what's going on?"

Ono and his companion looked at Fang Yun with great confusion, wondering how he knew the door was here.

"I didn't set those traps just for fun; I was scouting the entrance to this tunnel. There are two places where those traps won't be located: one is where we were just standing, which is where the traps are controlled."

"The other one must be this entrance. The person who designed the mechanism wasn't trying to deal with us."

Ono and his companion suddenly realized what was happening and smiled sheepishly. They had been so focused on the traps that they hadn't even noticed this place.

"Alright, they've probably been inside for a while now. We shouldn't delay, we need to catch up as soon as possible."

Then, Fang Yun took the lead and walked into the tunnel entrance. Although it was very stuffy inside, there should have been an air vent design, so it wasn't completely carbon dioxide inside, and the group could still breathe normally.

"Brother Fang, who do you think is buried in this tomb? And who dug this hole? It looks like an underground palace to me."

　1.3 “I can understand building palaces while the person is alive, but why waste so much money and resources after they're dead? Is it really necessary?”

Ono said, "You don't know this, but in ancient times, people of high status had to do this. They had to show their status while they were alive, and they had to maintain that status even after they died. But now it seems that many treasures end up in the hands of tomb raiders."

Fang Yun smiled upon hearing this and said, "That's right. The ancient tombs that have survived are those that are hidden deeper and have more ingenious mechanisms that make them impossible to enter. The others, which were slightly weaker, have long since been completely excavated."

Chapter 494 Deep Dive into the Tunnel

Under Fang Yun's guidance, the journey was very safe. After all, it was a road built by the craftsmen for their own convenience, so they did not encounter any traps along the way.

And with Fang Yun's sense of smell for that thing, he could tell it which direction to go.

Soon, the group arrived outside a stone chamber. This chamber was completely different from the other chambers they had seen before. Even before they got close, Huang Ying and Xiao Ye could clearly sense an unusual aura emanating from it.

The outside of the stone chamber was made of bronze-colored clay, so when a stone was thrown at it, the stone shattered upon impact.

"Could this be the final resting place of the tomb's occupant?"

Huang Ying was dumbfounded when she saw this. Normally, when a person dies, they are simply buried in a mound, but the owner of this tomb actually carved out a cave for himself. The final stone chamber was more like a small palace.

Outside the bronze wall are exquisitely crafted reliefs depicting generals holding weapons and some seemingly precious flowers.

In the very center of this stone chamber is the entrance, a large door cast in pure gold, but without a keyhole. It seems that after the craftsmen built it, the tomb was sealed off after the tomb owner was buried.

"Brother Fang, how can we get in?"

Fang Yun pondered for a moment and said, "No rush. This door is not easy for me to break through, but we should respect the dead. Since we have already entered his resting place, let's minimize the damage."

Fang Yun didn't want to cause too much damage. After all, this tomb was so damaged that many people would consider it an antique. If he were to forcefully break down the door like this, even he would think it would be too crude.

Just as Fang Yun was still pondering, he suddenly sensed some considerable forces approaching from different directions. According to Fang Yun's estimation, these people should arrive at this location in less than a quarter of an hour.

Fang Yun wasn't afraid of these people, but they would cause him a lot of trouble and waste a lot of his time, so he didn't want to get entangled with them. He could only grab what he had here as soon as possible and leave quickly.

"I've got it. It seems the owner is a very particular person. Instead of having molten iron used to seal the door gaps, he chose to use a mortise and tenon structure, which is much more convenient."

Fang Yun noticed that the central seam in the door was not completely blocked; rather, one could see that the seams were interlocking.

While sealing the door gaps with molten iron is undoubtedly the most sturdy method, it also affects the aesthetics and makes people feel uncomfortable.

Since it's a mortise and tenon structure, there must be corresponding mechanisms around it to hold the two doors in place. You just need to find the compass.

"Go and check the left and right walls to see if there are any protruding stones or anything like that."